If David Duchovny’s debut album, “Hell or Highwater,” failed artistically and commercially, he’d have an excuse: not enough time to make it great between writing debut novel “Holy Cow,” which came out in February, and filming NBC’s upcoming Charles Manson miniseries “Aquarius.”
But artistically, “Hell or Highwater,” out May 12, isn’t a failure. It’s actually pretty darn good. Not good for a vanity project, but a legitimately fun and rewarding listen.
“I didn’t try for the 15-year-old or 35-year-old or 80-year-old audience, I tried to make the songs I wanted to make and not aim it at a demographic,” Duchovny said from Los Angeles ahead of a show Wednesday at Cafe 939. “I’d prefer that you liked it, it’s a sincere offering, but I’m not depending on this album to make a living so I didn’t have that kind of pressure on me.”
Duchovny has a sound — laid-back vocals over a kind of spacey Americana boogie mixed with New York cool (somewhere between Wilco’s “A.M.” and a Lou Reed/Strokes thing).
To help him develop that sound, he hooked up with producer/keyboardist Colin Lee and the Berklee grads in Boston band Weather at Q Division Studios in Somerville’s Davis Square.
“The whole thing came in two phases. First I learned guitar and wrote some songs to amuse myself and didn’t think much beyond that,” he said. “Then I met Brad Davidson of ThinkSay Records, and after hearing the songs he said, ‘Let’s make an album.’ I said, ‘Sure.’ But it was him and Colin and the band that made this an album. Colin would tell me, ‘This song needs a bridge.’ I’d ask, ‘What’s a bridge?’ But together we worked out the arrangements and eventually it all came together.”
Duchovny says the whole process has been like a dream: “When I get that jewel case with my name on it I’ll feel like somebody put my face on one of those joke Time Man of the Year covers.”
Writing and recording can develop slowly. Artists can tinker and revise and improve. Singing, especially singing live, is different.
“It’s one thing to sing in your living room and another to foist it on people that paid money to see you,” Duchovny said.
The actor (and novelist and songwriter) worked with a professional vocal coach to get ready for the live show.
“I’m never going to be one of the three tenors, but I’m not tone deaf,” he said.
If he flops commercially, he has plenty to go back to. He has already finished a second novel — it’s called “Bucky (expletive) Dent” — and will start shooting new “X-Files” episodes this summer. He’s excited to see where Mulder and Scully have ended up in the 15 years since we left them: “It’s the role that defined my career and I’m ready to further the iconic relationship between the characters. It’s also the role that let me do stuff like make an album.”
David Duchovny, at Cafe 939, Wednesday. Tickets: $25; cafe939.com.
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